Today we went to Provincetown, (a.k.a. P-town) Massachusetts, which is at the tip of Cape Cod. We woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning, said goodbye to Monica’s grandparents, and drove to Boston to catch the high-speed ferry toProvincetown. Once we got there around 10 A.M., we walked around the downtown area, heading west, got some baked goods from a Portuguese bakery, got some sandwiches, and headed for Wood End beach. In order to get there we had to trek across a long man-made stone bar for about a mile, and then across hot sand. Once there, it turned out that the beach was largely deserted, and the water was warm enough to swim. After spending a few hours at the beach, and moving our belongings about five times due to a rising tide, we headed back to town to get dinner at Napi’s Restaurant.
For those who have not been to Provincetown, it is a very interesting place. It is a rather posh town that has a well-known gay and lesbian culture and community. It is a liberal place, and reminded us a little of Burning Man with well-toned men walking around in tight fitting shorts, or riding bikes from location to location and being jolly. We saw mostly men because we were in the West End. The women are in the East End, or so we heard. There is a certain joy in the air of the town, and a playful attitude.
While there, two thoughts came to mind. First was that there were very few “white-trash” tourists in the city. This was a noticeable difference from other vacation spots, and probably due to the liberal culture of the city and the upscale shops and lifestyle propagated there. Second, whileProvincetown is not well known outside Massachusetts and the gay and lesbian community, it seemed to me that among those in the know, living or vacationing inProvincetown is a status symbol.
We met up with a friend of ours from Brooklyn, who is working in town for the summer. All the food was good, and we enjoyed our day. Simon got sunburned on his back, his chest and the back of his legs below the knees. Nothing out of the ordinary though.
On the ferry-ride back, we saw about a dozen fireworks displays along the way. Too bad they couldn’t wait until the Fourth of July.
Happy upcoming Fourth of July everyone!
July 5, 2006 at 8:43 am
Happy 4th!
July 5, 2006 at 10:39 am
What I wouldn’t give for dinner at Napi’s… glad to hear P-town’s still standing strong.
July 6, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Having recently been to P-town I can totally relate to your guys experience. Based on your blog I realize that I was in the West End as I mostly saw males (as I didn’t know that previously I was surprised to see more females that looked like males than the other way around even though I primarily saw guys…)
Happy 4th! Hope the fireworks were good.
July 6, 2006 at 9:27 pm
I was in Provincetown back when I was like… 17, with my parents, on a family vacation, passing through one day, heh. So it was a totaly different kind of experience. But we had a nice lunch there and went whale watching on a boat leaving from there and I was very excited to see that Torchsong Trilogy was playing at a theatre there, which is one of my favorite plays ever… but unfortunately I didn’t get to actually stay and see it. Heh, well, it was still good.
July 14, 2006 at 7:33 am
Hank & I went to P-town on our “honeymoon” after we got married. Since it was early season (April), we got to enjoy a quieter side of P-town, but also had a great time. We rode our bikes instead of walking.
LOVED the wedding, ans are so glad you invited us!
July 17, 2006 at 11:00 am
Three weeks in P-town and still loving it. We haven’t tried Napi’s yet, but will soon. You’re so right about the rising tide – it’s funny how fast it rolls in; no wonder there are (were) so many shipwrecks. Last night we went to our first Kook party at Enzo’s (sans cameras – finally a night off!!!). It was a cops and robbers themed night and a ton of fun. Anyway, it was great seeing you guys here in P-town! Have a wonderful trip!